Labour Council fails “value for money” audit

External auditors have offered only a “qualified” judgement on Labour run York Council’s 2013/14 accounts due to failings in adult social care.

Lowfields care village - 3 years behind schedule

Lowfields care village – 3 years behind schedule

At last night’s meeting of the council’s Audit & Governance Committee it was confirmed that auditors Mazars would only offer a “qualified” judgement on the council’s accounts, specifically their ‘Value for Money’ assessment.

A report presented to the committee said there were “weaknesses in budgetary control and financial management in Adult Social Care services….a lack of understanding and ownership of budgets….and performance information was limited”.

It said “during 2013/14 the service did not demonstrate an ability to address the issues that it faced” and financial arrangements in place were “not strong enough”.

The final announcement comes in the wake of serious delays in a number of social care projects.

Key amongst these are plans to construct a state of the art centre on the Lowfields school site which would have made the service more efficient.

The project is 3 years behind scheduled and Labour Councillors have refused to reveal why, although no formal contract for the facility has yet been advertised for tender.

Cllr Nigel Ayre, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Health and a member of the Audit & Governance Committee, commented:

(more…)

York Council cuts meal for elderly

Lunch off menu at Gale Farm Court, Barstow House etc

Elderly

The Council is stopping serving of lunch for residents in its sheltered accommodation units.

Potentially all sheltered units are affected and letters have gone out today to affected tenants.

Although the Council claims to have consulted about the planned withdrawal of the service, in reality most residents thought they were being told about changes to how the meals would be provided.

The termination of the service therefore comes as a shock.

It is partly a legacy of the social care budget scandal that became public earlier in the year.

The Cabinet member with responsibility for the service lost her job at that time but now it seems that vulnerable elderly people are the ones who will suffer.

The social side of the mid day meal is particularly valued by many residents of sheltered accommodation who otherwise can become isolated in their own flats.Behind closed doors logo

The decision appears to have been taken behind closed door. There was no public discussion about the options available to the Council and affected residents.

Earlier in the year concerns were raised about hygiene standards at some care homes in York

Sheltered units with extra care in York include (click for details)

  1. Barstow House
  2. Gale Farm Court
  3. Glen Lodge
  4. Marjorie Waite Court

Auditors slam flawed York Social Care project

An independent audit report said that Labour run York Council’s plans for multi-million pound super care homes were “flawed” and promised savings had been “double counted”. Audit Report

Labour’s Elderly Persons’ Homes (EPH) programme promises to replace existing care facilities in York and build new homes on the former Lowfield and Burnholme school sites.

However, the project has been beset with problems and is currently running years behind schedule.

Now the publication of a report by external auditors Mazars, from July last year, has for the first time revealed their criticism of the project.

The report was revealed last night to the council’s cross-party Audit and Governance Committee.

600,000 of planned savings from EPHs were not delivered because of issues around building new units and assumptions were flawed.

The original estimated savings were too ambitious and members made changes to the project.

There was no effective challenge of the external expert’s assumptions. In addition savings were double counted”.

(more…)

£3.9 million Social Care budget problem forces major rethink in York

“the service was not responding quickly enough or effectively enough to the challenges it faced” – Auditors

The Council has now published an outline of how it intends to recover from the Social Care budget deficit discovered by Auditors. The Auditors identified a budget pressure of £2.5 on this year’s budget together with outstanding actins needed to secure budgeted savings of £1.4 million.

Social care

In a separate report the Auditors they say

“Our view is that financial management and commissioning in the adult social care service needs to improve and this service has not responded quickly and effectively enough to the challenges that it faces.

If the underlying financial pressures are not robustly addressed and actions to secure significant future base budget reductions are not effective, there is a risk that the Council will not be in a position to deliver the best possible value for money in adult social care services.

Of critical importance to the delivery of sustained improvement is a review of existing contracts and a new commissioning approach that secures the required services at an affordable price”.

The crisis had led to the demotion of the Cabinet member, who had responsibility for the department, earlier in the year with several senior staff following her out of the door last month.

A summary of the action that the Council intends to take can be read here

10 substantial issues, raised by the Auditors, are addressed. They include:

  • Producing a clear and unambiguous budget for the current year which eliminates overspends
  • Improved accountability for senior officials
  • More delegation of responsibility
  • Improvements in the budget build process for next and subsequent years
  • A clear savings plan
  • Improved management information systems and IT
Council Leader with Cllr Simpson Laing (right) a few weeks before she was sacked from her Social care post

Council Leader with Cllr Simpson Laing (right) a few weeks before she was sacked from her Social care post

Challenged on the problems at the last Council meeting, the Leader declined to say why he had not taken action last year to address the emerging issues.

Council officials has earlier declined to say why one of the saving projects – the opening of a new “super care village” at Lowfields – was running 3 years behind schedule.

Connecting Care in York

‘Connecting Care’, the City of York Local Account for Adult Social Care for 2013 is now online.

The report sets out the current local picture of adult social care services with health and financial data and how services are performing, along with the strategic aims for improving and integrating health and social care services in the future.

To view Connecting Care visit www.york.gov.uk/localaccount

York social care website attracts small number of visitors

The “new” social care website – Connect to Support – has had over 700 visitors.

click to access

click to access

The site enables older people, those with disabilities, or those who simply need some support to remain independent, to shop for support services and products, find local activities and groups and look up information and advice – since it “officially” launched in November.

The site had caused some concern when it went live last Spring without any explanation

The site brings together several resources that will give adults in the city a new and innovative way of finding out what options are available to meet their needs.

For more information on how Connect to Support visit www.connecttosupport.org/york

“Bed blocking” criticism grows in York

Bed blocking

NHS England list York as one of the worst communities for speedy hospital discharges

NHS England have today published data click here showing that in October 2013, the City was one of the worst communities in England for delayed transfer of care.

Of the 28 patients awaiting a move from York hospitals at the end of October, 11 were awaiting care or nursing home placements while 7 were waiting for a care in the community support package.

Both are the responsibility of the York Council to provide

Although the Council Leadership is now promising to fix the problem “within 6 months”, they have failed to explain why the developing crisis has not been mentioned in any of the reports published by members of the Labour Cabinet over the last 6 months.

The Leaders own report, being considered by the Council tomorrow (Thursday), makes no mention of the problems.
—————–

Separately, a resident has submitted a Freedom of Information request seeking an explanation for the apparent attempt to cover up the delayed discharges scandal. The wording of the request can be read by clicking here.

Hospital “bed blocking” on increase in York

Bed blocking

The number of delayed discharges from hospital is increasing as the York Council struggles to provide care in the community places.

The delays mean that the Council has to pay substantial “fines” and in turn the “blockage” can prevent new patients being admitted to NHS beds.

The delays have reached record levels as the weekly average figures (for patients awaiting discharge to community placements) for the last few years reveal.

  • 2009/10 – 7.98
  • 2010/11 – 10.13
  • 2011/12 – 8.69
  • 2012/13 – 10.67
  • 2013/14 – 11.00 (to September)

The figures were reported to both the York Council’s “Cabinet” on 5th November and its Health Scrutiny Committee on 27th November

Neither minuted any action which they planned take to address the growing crisis.

Some of the delays are being put down to inadequate capacity in the “reablement” unit. This team seeks to train former patients to be more self-reliant.

It is the winter period when demand for NHS beds is at its highest.

The last thing that the City needs is for those that are available to be blocked by people who could, with support

shop4support York website questioned

Residents accessing a new York web site have questioned the York Councils role in the initiative.

Although available since May, the shop4support site has had little publicity and there is no explanation on the site of the Councils role or the standing of the site.

click to access site

click to access site

It appears to advertise services for disadvantaged people in the City but representatives of some voluntary organisations say they have only just found out about its existence.

It appears that the site is aimed at personal budget holders – residents who have opted to manage their own social care needs from a budget allocated by the local authority. This is a growing number of people in York where the number of direct payment holders has increased from 99 in 2008 to around 300 today. In addition many elderly people also chose now to arrange their own care.

The web page is clearly marked as being a City of York Council supported initiative, but there is no record of the Council having formally discussed its involvement. No Council contact telephone number is advertised on the site. There is no link to the site from the Council’s own web page.

Many of the services offered involve a payment. Although some of the advertisers are voluntary groups, there are others which appear to have a more commercial background.

Elsewhere on the web site, Councils are being offered the chance to get join the network in return for a payment of “from £45,000”.

Questions about the Councils involvement with the web site are likely to be asked at the next Council meeting which is taking place on 10th October.

Social care costs in York click to enlarge

Social care costs in York click to enlarge